This is an attempt to unravel the facts & the many varied & changing claims surrounding the death, abduction or dissapearance of Madeleine McCann aged 3, whilst on holiday with her parents and younger siblings in Portugal, on the night of 07-May-2007, to try to establish the truth.

He said: “Although his death is certainly not foul play, as has been suggested, there are certainly a lot of people who wished him ill. But he was also unique. I knew chapter and verse about his life and career, but my interest was really to try and get to the bottom of why he did what he did

“My understanding is that he was found dead on Monday night. There was blood around the house, probably caused by previous falls when he was either drunk or blacking out.

“Halligen was increasingly shambolic and these blood stains hadn’t been cleared up. His house was full of empty drink bottles. A lot of people wished him ill but his death is almost certainly related to alcoholism.”

Surrey Police said the death was currently being treated as “unexplained”.

A spokesman said: “We were called to an address in Cobbett Hill Road, Normandy, on Monday following a report of a man in his 50s having been taken unwell, who subsequently died. The death is being treated as unexplained and a file will be passed to the coroner’s office in due course.”

PA Wire/PA Images Madeleine McCann has been missing since 2007

The McCanns used the Irish national’s firm for around six months to look for their missing daughter. The £500,000 contract saw the firm hire private detectives, set up a hotline and process information.

The McCanns terminated the arrangement without paying the full fees because Halligen, from Surrey, apparently failed to fulfil certain agreements.

He was then extradited to the US in 2012 to face charges over an unrelated £1.3 million con, to which he pleaded guilty in 2013.

Dutch company Trafigura were targeted in the scam, being told by Halligen that he needed funds to secure the release of two business executives who were arrested in the Ivory Coast.

In an interview for a 2014 Channel 5 documentary, Halligen denied claims he misused money raised to find Madeleine.

He said: “It is gross distortion of what was actually happening. The print media in particular took this line that really nothing was being done, I was living the high life on the proceeds of the McCann case. Trust me, I didn’t buy so much as a new suit. The money, all of it, is fully accountable.”

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The Main Web Site:

See also: ‘Clear grounds for the prosecution of Kate & Gerry McCann’CLICK HERE

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Hi,

here is an interesting exchange which yet again leads me to believe Kate * Jerry McCann should be prosecuted regarding the disapearance of their daughter Madeleine having recklessly abandoned her as a 3 year old with her baby twin siblings.

Left alone as babies unattended in a holiday flat, in a foreign country, whilst they went out carousing with chums in a tapas bar.

Their gross & criminal irresponsaibility led to the irrefutable fact that as a result of their action Madeleine McCann disapeared that evning and has not been seen since!

There have been claims made by some that they believe the children were drugged with legitimate medical drugs to make them sleep and as a result Madeleine died and the death was covered up by the parents, others claim there is a possibility of infantiside, some believe Madeleine woke and wandered off looking for her parents – less plausibly of course is the possibility of abduction.

Whatever the cause the outcome was that Madeleine McCann has not been seen since that night was that her parents left their 3 babies alone and unattended, left alone in an irresponsible and selfish act of hedonism by their parents was the one undeniable action that made that outcome possibility.

Sickeningly from the facts presented on Twitter and published below the parents are so concerned that the truth may come out or at least be discussed and speculated on that they have recruited and funded people to ‘run flack’ and deflect people from such natural discussion – be they private detectives, lawyers or a group of vile trolls – like the self styled Michael Walker who we are given to understand is their friend Michael Wright.

Thanks but don’t #Walker‘s tweets as a #McCann troll speak volumes of just what sordid support the criminal neglect that led to the probable death of #Madeleine_McCann has attracted for vicarious pleasure perhaps!

thanks for the info – I must say I am not surprised as he is clearly as vile a personality as the duo as they are reported to be by friends of mine who have had the misfortune of working with them! Time to prosecute on #Madeleine_McCann‘s behalf!

Posted by:
Greg Lance – Watkins
Greg_L-W

See also: ‘Clear grounds for the prosecution of Kate & Gerry McCann’CLICK HERE

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NSPCC –

Guidelines on when it is acceptable to Leave children at home alone State unequivocally

Babies, toddlers and very young children should never be left alone

Parents and carers can be prosecuted for neglect if it is judged that they placed a child at risk by leaving them at home alone

Do be minded that the 3 McCann babies, and yes I do mean babies as the eldest was Madeleine and she was not yet four and in the eyes of the law she was a baby/toddler left in charge of two much younger babies, they were not even left at home – they were left in a strange appartment in a foreign country, where she could not even speak the language!

What the law says

Strange as it may seem, there’s no set age for leaving children home alone. The law simply says that you shouldn’t leave a child alone if they’ll be at risk.

There’s such a wide variation in the rate that children mature that it would be almost impossible to come up with a “one size fits all” law. Instead, the choice is left to parents. They know their children best and can use their own judgement.

There might not be a specific legal age to leave children alone but it’s safe to say babies, toddlers and young children should never be left alone, even if it’s just while you pop down the road. Even if they’re sleeping peacefully when you leave they could well wake up and get very upset when you’re not there to look after them. They would not be able to protect themselves in an emergency and may even try to leave the property to find you.

NSPCC advice on leaving a child at home

Babies, toddlers and very young children should never be left alone

Children under the age of 12 are rarely mature enough to cope in an emergency and should not be left at home alone for a long period of time

Children under the age of 16 should not be left alone overnight

Parents and carers can be prosecuted for neglect if it is judged that they placed a child at risk by leaving them at home alone

A child should never be left at home alone if they do not feel comfortable with this, regardless of their age

If a child has additional needs, these should be considered when leaving them at home alone or with an older sibling

When leaving a younger child with an older sibling think about what may happen if they were to have a falling out – would they both be safe?

Things to consider before leaving a child home alone

No one knows your child quite as well as you do – so use your knowledge of what they’re really like to answer these questions. This won’t give you a definite answer about whether the time is right to leave your child alone at home, but it’ll certainly give you plenty to think about.

Does your child seem to be responsible and mature for their age and always do what you tell him or her?

Would they be able to fix themselves something to eat and drink and would you be happy with them using the cooker or microwave?

Can you imagine how they’d cope in an emergency like a power cut or a flooded bathroom?

Would they know what to do if the phone rang or someone came to the door?

Would they know how to contact you or another family member or friend if they needed to? Do they have these contact numbers to hand?

How would they feel about being left alone – pleased to be given the responsibility or scared by the thought of it?

But remember, if you or your child are even the teeniest bit unsure about leaving them at home on their own, it’s always best to be on the safe side and arrange some other kind of care for them such as a babysitter or childminder.

There is no doubt or argument which exhonourates Drs. Kate & Gerry McCann for having left their 3 babies alone and unattended in a rented flat in a foreign country where they didn’t even speak the language. Do be minded they were not left alone whilst the parents popped out, which would have put the babies at risk, but whilst the two Doctors left their babies to go out carousing with chums in a tavera some 100 yards away out of sight and sound of the babies.

However often they may claim to have returned to check them merely shoqws they knew clearly they were at risk and the periods between visits were the very cause of the outcome that night when Madeleine allegedly went missing.

Had these 2 Doctors acted responsibly and ensured the 3 babies were not abandoned, either by remaining with them, taking them with them or by ensuring they had an approved baby sitter Madeleine would still be in their care as a teenager now!

See also:

The former child minder said she is still haunted by the image of dad Gerry desperately trying to find their missing daughter while she tried to comfort weeping mum Kate

ByMatthew Young

11:57, 19 APR 2017

Updated11:47, 2 MAY 2017

A nanny who looked after Madeleine McCann has told how the youngster’s parents were plunged into despair and panic when the ­horrifying truth she had vanished sank in.

The former child minder said she is still haunted by the image of dad Gerry desperately trying to find their missing daughter while she tried to comfort weeping mum Kate who cried: “They’ve taken her.”

Breaking her silence after 10 years, the witness also claimed the resort from which Madeleine vanished was considered so unsafe nannies were handed rape alarms and told to not go out alone.

And she slammed the Portuguese police’s handling of the disappearance, insisting their ­blundering scuppered any chances of finding who had snatched three-year-old Madeleine.

Kate and Gerry make emotional appeal after their daughter was abducted while they were at dinner (Photo: Getty)

Madeleine has been missing since 2007 (Photo: PA)

Speaking of that dreadful night in May 2007, the ex-nanny –who looked after the girl several times – said: “A parent came to me and said there was something going on, and said someone’s looking for a child, I didn’t instantly think it was Maddie.

“A couple of minutes later I walked into Kate crying, friends comforting her, Gerry looking under cars, and it just blew up.

“I don’t even think she saw me. I just stood next to her and tried to comfort her.

“She was pacing up and down. The worst possible thing had just happened to her.

“I think I said something like, ‘She’ll be found, these things happen all the time.’

“She was crying, but almost in a catatonic state, and Gerry was very distressed. That’s the one thing I really remember from him, looking under the cars. I can’t forget that.

The Mark Warner resort closed in 2015 (Photo: Daily Mirror)

“We were told to start looking in bins in case her body was in there. It was at that point we realised this was serious.”

Along with other staff, the ex-carer, who worked for travel firm Mark Warner at the the Ocean Club resort, sifted by hand in the dark through industrial-sized bins and piping leading into the sea in their hunt for Madeleine.

They also walked Praia da Luz’s small, winding streets searching for the missing girl until they were told, against their wills at 5am, that it was time for bed.

But the woman, who we are not naming, said she is still furious with local police , who she claimed took 90 minutes to arrive on the scene.

And she told how people were in and out of the apartment where Madeleine vanished from – contaminating a ­potential crime scene.

The former nanny added: “I know I didn’t step into that apartment but pretty much everybody else did. So, evidence gone, nothing. There was nobody there to say, ‘We need to lock this off now.’

“The police didn’t get there for ages, maybe an hour and a half, so we were looking for her.

“And at the end of the day, no matter how much you’ve been trained with ­children, we were children, mainly ­teenagers, we’re not police.

“That’s why police were trying to get everyone’s timelines, because they weren’t there.”

She also told how she was interviewed by officers in the wake of Madeleine’s disappearance and later detectives from ­the Met’s Operation Grange handed her two pages of statements they had retrieved from their Algarve compratiots.

View of the Ocean Club Apartments complex from the street (Photo: Daily Mirror)

Her original statement was four to five pages long, but the one the Portuguese had been working from was only two pages long – missing a number of details from her interview.

The woman claimed “whole chunks of information were missed out”.

Kate McCann speaks during charity fundraiser in midst of court battle

She added: “I think a lot of things should’ve happened differently. ­Unfortunately the effects were catastrophic.”

And the carer told how she was astonished Kate and Gerry were ever deemed suspects in their own child’s ­disappearance.

She is still constantly quizzed by people about the case who ask if “the parents did it”.

She said: “I tell them no, there’s no way at all. A, timings and B, where it was, their r­eactions, the whole thing. Not a chance.”

The woman also told how Madeleine was a favourite among the child minders. Her allocated nanny was Catriona Baker, but others also got the chance to look after her.

The carer added: “I remember her character and ­temperament. She was slightly shy, very sweet. Not loud or precocious.

The nanny said that Madeleine was a helpful, polite child (Photo: PA)

“We obviously give the same care to all the children, but she was a real cutie and a real sweetheart. If you asked her, ‘Can you just pass me that?’ She’d be like, ‘Sure.’

“She was easy for us, and you were happy to sit and help out this pretty little girl who’s really nice.”

While the Ocean Club was clearly popular with British holidaymakers like the McCanns, from Rothley, Leics, the former child minder claimed it was considered an unsafe place for those who worked there.

After she arrived she was stunned when a fellow nanny passed on a message from hotel staff to never venture off the site alone.

She added: “I just couldn’t get over how different it was to other Mark Warner resorts.

“We were told, ‘Here’s a rape whistle, don’t go anywhere by yourself, ever.’ There’d been a girl attacked the year or so before in Praia da Luz. It didn’t sound like a family resort to me.

“I just got the feeling the locals didn’t want us there.”

It emerged in 2014 that 11 years earlier a 10-year-old British girl had been sexually assaulted “in the heart” of Praia da Luz.

The tapas bar where Kate and Gerry were when Madeleine was snatched (Photo: Daily Mirror)

The victim came forward three years ago after a Scotland Yard appeal revealed a string of potentially linked sex assaults on young UK girls across the Algarve between 2004 and 2006.

Mark Warner, which operates in resorts all over the world, quit Praia da Luz in 2015.

Madeleine vanished as her parents ate with friends at a tapas bar just 40 yards from where she slept next to twin siblings, Amelie and Sean.

But the former nanny, who couldn’t face child minding again after the Algarve horror, said dining while kids were in the apartments was “really normal” in such resorts.

And she insisted there was no evidence Kate and Gerry would ever neglect their kids.

She said: “I remember thinking, even before I knew them, how they were the picture perfect family.”

The tapas bar was not far from the family’s apartment (Photo: The People)

Asked if she thinks Madeleine is still alive, the woman said: “Think possibly is the wrong word, but hope. I hope she is still alive.

“It’s probably very naive, but the best case scenario of a very horrible situation, is that she was procured and taken for a rich person who didn’t have children.

“I can’t go anywhere else in my head. I can read it about other people and know how horrible that seedy world is where children are sold. But my brain won’t go there with her. I just switch off.

“But I think the only person who knows exactly what happened is Madeleine. Can I believe it’s 10 years on? Yes and no.

A still from a video showing the re-enaction of Madeleine’s abduction (Photo: PA)

She was taken from the Mark Warner Ocean Club resort (Photo: Daily Mirror)

Crimewatch – Madeleine McCann Reconstruction

No because 10 years seems like a really long time, she’d be nearly 14.

“And yes, because sometimes, when I talk about it, it feels like I’m right back there again.

“I wonder if she’s alive. Does she even remember? Does she remember her parents?

“I’m probably less harrowed by it now, but that’s just because, although it’s awful, it’s become accepted.

“‘It’s Madeleine, she’s gone missing but it would just be the best day ever if I could be told that she’s been found.”

Operation Grange, which was last month given £85,000 of Home Office funding to extend its probe until September, still speaks to witnesses.

The Main Web Site:

Kate and Gerry McCann vow to fight any prosecution for abandoning their children after Katie Hopkins demanded ‘justice’

The parents of Maddie McCann have hit back at the outspoken reality star

ByTracey Kandohla

08:43, 20 MAR 2017

Updated10:41, 20 MAR 2017

The McCanns have vowed to fight “tooth and nail” if prosecuted for abandoning their children after a shocking video called for them to punished ten years after Maddie was snatched.

As outspoken radio host Katie Hopkins branded it an “injustice” that Kate and Gerry escaped punishment for leaving three children alone during a family holiday, their friend said: “They were well aware they could have been charged with child neglect and naturally very concerned. But in legal terms they were doing everything well within the bounds of respectable parenting.”

The source insists: “Any legal action against them would have failed. A court would have to show Kate and Gerry had wilfully neglected their daughter and her siblings, and they did not. They would have robustly defended any charges, if brought.”

The couple could have faced jail under Portuguese law if they had ever faced a charge of abandonment and been convicted.

Hopkins’ harsh criticism of Maddie’s parents Kate and Gerry has refuelled the “were they right or wrong” row for leaving a trio of kids, all under the aged of four, asleep in a holiday apartment in Portugal while they were dining nearby with pals.

The mum-of-three Katie, in a global YouTube interview with glamour model Jodie Marsh, claims they should never have escaped justice and also claimed Kate was insensitive for ever washing her snatched daughter’s favourite cuddly toy, Cuddle Cat.

Maddie vanished from a holiday apartment in Portugal’s Praia da Luz in May 2007 (Photo: PA)

Three-year-old Maddie vanished from the un-locked doored flat in The Algarve’s Praia da Luz in May 2007. Her parents chose not to pay for a baby sitting service while they ate and drank in a tapas bar with chums, dubbed the Tapas Seven.

Ex GP Kate, 49, and heart doctor Gerry, 48, of Rothley, Leics, were never prosecuted for abandoning their kids out of “compassion”, a former Portuguese law chief revealed last year.

Former minister of internal affairs Rui Pereira slammed the decision not to charge the McCann’s with “the crime of abandonment.” He revealed in a TV interview how top officials, out of “compassion” for the parents, ruled out charges citing Brits’ “peculiar cultural customs, thinking it is natural for them to leave children alone.”

Kate and Gerry still believe Maddie, who would now be 13, is still alive (Photo: PA)

Hopkins had previously stated on national LBC Radio: “Maddie was lost because she was left to be found.” Marsh, in a Twitter rant, added that her parents should be searching “on their hands and knees digging up the bare earth rather than be side-tracked and busying themselves suing people.”

Maddie’s parents are bracing themselves for the painful milestone 10th anniversary of her disappearance in less than seven weeks. They cling onto a glimmer of hope that their daughter, who would now be aged 13, could still be alive.

McCann spokesman Clarence Mitchell today declined to discuss the latest rant, having previously said: “Kate and Gerry will not be fuelling any of this pure speculation with any comment whatsoever.”

I guess the McCann’s were in absolutely no position but to use their hired spokesman to try to suppress any similar suggestions that justice be brought to bear by prosecuting them for their reckless abandonment and irresponsible neglect of their 3 small children which was beyond any doubt the reason why Madeleine McCann is no longer with them and in my opinion almost certainly dead.

Sorry but this just doesn’t hack it:

McCann spokesman Clarence Mitchell today declined to discuss the latest rant, having previously said: “Kate and Gerry will not be fuelling any of this pure speculation with any comment whatsoever.”

A spokesman stated:

“Any legal action against them would have failed. A court would have to show Kate and Gerry had wilfully neglected their daughter and her siblings, and they did not. They would have robustly defended any charges, if brought.”

Personally I believe this is nothing more than legal bluster, it is widely stated that occupants of the ajoining apartment had drawn to the McCann’s that their children had been seriously disturbed and crying on a previous occasion they had been abandoned – it is also indisputable that baby sitters were readily available at the resort and inexpensive.

To wilfully overlook these facts I consider unarguably a deliberate and wilfull act of neglect! An act of wilfull neglect made even more serious as both Kate McCann and her husband Gerry McCann were both trained as Doctors and all too well aware of the risk of leaving babies unattended for any period – let alone for a prolonged period carousing with their chums far beyond sight or sound of the children!

These are the very people, in terms of training, who would expect to be called as expert witnesses in the prosecution of a young couple who had wilfully abandoned their small children to go to the pub, during which time one had come to harm or died!

Why have the McCann’s been denied the right to clear their namnes, why have they not been prosecuted – could it be that justice is a matter of the depth of the pockets of the miscreants?

See also: ‘Clear grounds for the prosecution of Kate & Gerry McCann’CLICK HERE

it is hard to find fault with the arguments put forward by the Portuguese Criminal investigator Moita Flores, who was once attached to the Policia Judiciaria and before him Goncalas Amaral both police investigators who worked on the case of the disapearance of Madeleine McCann officially.

It has always been my personal opinion that due to the reckless abandonment of their 3 very young children whilst Kate and Gerry McCann, both Doctors whose training is the very bedrock of the laws related to criminal negligence and child neglect and child abuse, were the most clearly guilty in this case – They had neglected their 3 very young children to irresponsibly persue their own pleasure, when all too clearly they could afford to pay one of the readily available registered baby sitters available at the resort.

That over £11 Million of tax payers’ money has been squandered on this case without justice either being done or seen to be done, is in my opinion an obscene waste of public funds.

Had there been a single shred of evidence that the child had been deliberately abducted, perhaps one could justify the expense – but why have the parents not been put before the Courts for their criminal negligence that led to Madeleine McCann’s disapearance – had they taken the most basec of interest in the well being of their children with a baby sitter, the child would never have gone missing.

Had there been even a Coroner’s Court enquiry there was every hope that new evidence would have been exposed and scrutinised, a criminal prosecution of the parents for their criminal negligence would have probed even deeper to expose the truth and neither course of action would have dragged on for 10 years and it is unlikely a fraction of the £11M would have been spent, which it has been to date with no greater knowledge of what went on in that flat than 10 years ago!

The death of Madeleine McCann would have been a tragedy and could have been dealt with in a normal and responsible manner by both the Police, the public and the parents with lessons being learned by all.

That 2 of the investigating officers consider it a probability that the child died in the appartment in a tragic accident and have had the courage to speak out accordingly tends to confirm my own long held belief

That our conclussions having studied 1,000s of items of evidence and reports only confirms to me tthe belief that Justice has neither been done nor seen to be done. At least a prosecution of the parents for their undeniable offence would at very least give them the opportunity both to have ALL of the evidence exposed and scrutinised and also a chance to clear their names.

I would of course dearly love to hear of the discovery of Madeleine Mccann, as with cases like DuGard and the like – but let us not forget all those cases had one thing in common, they were of older children and for sexual gratification. Had this been such a case it is a near certainty that it would have led to death and how was absolutely no evidence left at the appartment, nor is there any clarity of evidence of abduction – the most likely item having been the sighting of a man, not undesimilar to Gerry McCann, carrying a child of about the right size over his shoulder late on that night – a sighting that was unconfirmed and uncorroborated!

One is forced to ponder, with regret, as to whether this incident had occured on a council house estate involving some mythical Damian and Tracey and the loss of their daughter of a similar age, whilst they were in the pub nextdoor, whether they could have drummed up £11Million and avoided prosecution or has education and status skewed the blindfolded balance of the scales of justice!

‘I have no doubt.’

A Portuguese crime expert has weighed in on the mystery over Madeleine McCann, claiming to know for certain what happened to the little girl.

Criminal investigator Moita Flores, who was once attached to the Policia Judiciaria which began the search for the missing child, made his remarks as intriguing new leads in the case began to emerge.

“Maddie died in that apartment, I have no doubt,” he said in comments reported by The Sun.

YouTube

Moita Flores’ comments have been dismissed as ‘pure speculation’ by a spokesman for the McCanns

Madeleine was nearly four when she vanished in 2007 from her family’s holiday apartment in Praia da Luz as her parents dined with friends at a tapas bar nearby. The McCanns have spoken of their bitter regret about leaving her and two-year-old twins Sean and Amelie alone. The missing girl would now be a teenager, but the family has never given up the search and remain hopeful she is alive.

While Portuguese and British detectives are united in probing fresh tips that Madeleine was spirited away by traffickers, Flores dismissed this, stating: “It would have been impossible to get through the window with a child.”

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Kate and Gerry McCann have been dealt another cruel blow as a Portuguese court failed to put them in the clear over the disappearance of daughter Madeleine.

The couple were ruled out as formal suspects, or “arguidos”, back in 2008 – but in newly released court papers, judges have specified that this does not equate to a ruling of ­innocence.

It will add to the McCanns’ torment, after the same judges ruled against the couple last week in a legal battle with the police officer who led the hunt for their daughter.

The couple sued ex-police chief Goncalo Amaral after he wrote a book claiming they were responsible for Madeleine’s “death” in May 2007.

But he fought the case and Portugal’s Supreme Court sided with him.

Madeleine McCann has been missing since 2008 (Photo: PA)

In the 76-page ruling on the case – made public – they also said the archiving in 2008 of the criminal case into Madeline’s ­disappearance does not prove the McCanns are innocent.

They wrote: “It should not be said that the appellants were cleared via the ruling announcing the archiving of the criminal case.”

While the judges said it would be wrong to draw any inferences about the couple’s guilt or innocence from the decision, they noted that the case was not shelved because prosecutors believed that Kate and Gerry, from Rothley, Leics, were innocent – but due to a lack of evidence.

The court sided with Goncalo Amaral (Photo: Mirrorpix)

They wrote: “That ruling was not made in virtue of Portugal’s Public Prosecution Service having acquired the conviction that the appellants hadn’t committed a crime.

“The archiving of the case was determined by the fact that public prosecutors hadn’t managed to obtain sufficient evidence of the practice of crimes by the appellants.

The court concluded that the archiving of the case should not be seen as proof the McCanns are not guilty, stating: “It doesn’t therefore seem acceptable that the ruling, based on the insufficiency of evidence, should be equated to proof of innocence.”

How the Daily Mirror reported the court case

The damming document means suspicion still hangs over the heads of the McCanns, who have always claimed their innocence.

It was released after the court decided Amaral’s “right to freedom of expression” was worthy of greater protection than the couple’s “right to honour”.

Amaral, 57, was ordered to pay the couple £360,000 in damages in 2015 for claims he made in The Truth Of The Lie.

He said the McCanns faked Madeline’s abduction after she “died” in their holiday apartment. Amaral claimed his work was based on publicly available police and court files on the case. Kate described the book as “devastating and distressing”.

Amaral successfully overturned the ruling against him last April and the McCanns lodged a Supreme Court appeal.

But judges decided Amaral’s claims were “within admissible limits in a democratic and open society”. It means Kate and Gerry, both 48, face having to pay Amaral’s legal bills and could even be sued by him.

Kate and Gerry McCann outside court (Photo: Daily Mirror)

The McCanns may take the case to the European courts, but legal experts say they must prove they have a valid reason of appeal before any hearing would be even considered.

Madeline vanished from an apartment in Praia da Luz as her parents ate at a nearby restaurant. Detectives are said to be working on a theory that she was kidnapped by a European trafficking gang.